So, here’s the deal: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—yes, the same agency currently under fire from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk—apparently paid the college tuition for none other than Anwar al-Awlaki. You know, the guy who later became a key leader of Al-Qaeda? The guy who had connections to the 9/11 hijackers? The same guy who was killed in a U.S. drone strike under the Obama administration? Yeah. That guy.
According to documents that recently surfaced, USAID fully funded Al-Awlaki’s studies at Colorado State University back in 1990. He got in under false pretenses, fraudulently claiming he was a Yemeni national so he could qualify for an exchange visa. And guess what? The system—our system—just went along with it.
Now, let’s put this into perspective. This wasn’t just some random guy who took a few bad turns. Al-Awlaki was deeply involved in Al-Qaeda’s war against the U.S. He had direct contact with Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. He played a major role in radicalizing extremists online, earning him the nickname "the godfather of digital jihad.” And yet, once upon a time, Uncle Sam helped him pay his tuition bill.
STUNNING:
Looks like USAID supported college tuition for Anwar Aulaqi (Awlaki) who later became a high level al Qaeda terrorist.
Aulaqi falsely claimed he was born in Yemen to secure the financial help via the State Dept. when he was actually a US citizen, born in Las Cruces… https://t.co/jW3yHS81F1
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) February 9, 2025
Investigative reporters Pamela Browne and Catherine Herridge posted the bombshell documents on social media, showing that Al-Awlaki fraudulently listed his birthplace as Sanaa, Yemen. And here’s the kicker—he later admitted that American officials knew about the lie but let him go along with it anyway so he could qualify for the funding. That’s right, he had help from within the system to game the system.
And this isn’t some new revelation, either. George Washington University’s National Security Archive first uncovered this back in 2015. But now, with USAID in the hot seat, this little gem of a scandal is making its way back into the spotlight.
Let’s fast forward a bit. After graduating, Al-Awlaki became a cleric, bouncing around mosques in the U.S., including one in San Diego where—oh, surprise!—he met two of the 9/11 hijackers. He moved to Yemen in 2004, got arrested in 2006 for suspected ties to terrorism, and later became the first American citizen targeted for death by the CIA. In 2011, a drone strike finally took him out.
But let’s rewind to the real issue here: How does a U.S. government agency end up paying for the education of a future Al-Qaeda leader? This is the same USAID that Democrats are now scrambling to defend while Trump and Musk push for reform. And look, this is more than just an embarrassing oversight—it’s a glaring example of how broken the system can be when ideology and bureaucracy take precedence over national security.